How ITN used NDAs to silence staff

One of the aims of journalism is to identify injustice and hold the powerful to account, so it’s odd that ITN – which makes news for Channel 4, Channel 5 and ITV – remains so unwilling to examine its own wrongdoing. Women who work for ITN have tried to report harassment and discrimination, but soon after doing so found themselves suddenly out of a job and bound by non-disclosure agreements.

I spent seven years in Channel 4 News as a journalist and commissioning editor. It was my perfect job. Colleagues felt like family and we forged strong bonds. After the Black Lives Matter movement started, Anna Mallett, then ITN chief executive, had a message for staff: ‘The time for change is now,’ she said. Anyone suffering discrimination must report it, for the good of us all. Her request made sense: how can a culture improve if no one mentions the problems? Mallett said she wanted inclusivity. I believed her.

Reluctantly I reported some concerns, just as requested. It was the worst mistake of my career

As it happened, I could see some problems. I was involved in women’s groups at ITN and I heard some alarming stories. Women, myself included, felt bullied and harassed from time to time but those who spoke up felt that no one listened. I encountered one woman who had tried to speak to her line manager sobbing, and I started to worry that victims were being punished for trying to improve the culture.

Reluctantly and very carefully, I reported some concerns, just as requested. It was the worst mistake of my career, as it turned out, and the most isolating experience of my life.

I soon found out I was not alone. Several women in the Channel 4 newsroom felt trapped in a complaints process, often against the same editors.